Faerie's Flower
by Kannika
Summary: Neji finds a beautiful, unopened flower in the meadow. When it blooms...there's a faerie inside! Neji is shocked to discover a world of magic and faeries existing right in his backyard... but it's a world in peril... AU NejiTen NaruHina SasuSaku ShikaIno
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

A crisp wind cut through the still night like a knife. The flowers bent precariously over their tedious stems teetered closer towards the ground, their petals almost touching the dew-sparkled ground. But as soon as the wind stopped, they slowly stood back up, like they had minds of their own. Minds that told them to stay away from the ground, for it meant death.

But one didn't ease itself up. It was the only one whose petals hadn't opened in the spring, for it was not ready to reveal to the world its secret. The secret within the tranquil blue petals was to be kept safe from human eyes.

It moved b y itself, though. It rose up ever so slightly, only to sink back down in a steady, endless rhythm. Its petals opened ever so slightly with every rise, only to close back up almost all the way with its fall. It seemed to pulsate with a little light all its own from within the tranquil lilac silk.

An almost inaudible little sigh from within. There was a little flutter of movement, so fast it's only a blur and so tiny it barely moved its flower protector. The pulsations around the flower grew a little bit stronger, so it looked like there was a firefly inside the bud of a flower in the night.

But fireflies don't sing.

And sing the little flower does, high and musical. It weaved around the other flowers, casting a magical little spell over them. They straightened up to listen, and sighed with pleasure of peace. The little voice wove around the meadow, soft as the breeze itself.

_I believe in magic_

_I believe in __a song_

_I believe in an eternity_

_Where we all get along…_

_I will wait_ _forever_

_For this vision of peace_

_I wait forever_

_To be free…_

It sang until the last of the stars in the sky began to fade and the sun pushed away the darkness. With another barely audible little sigh, the light faded down until it couldn't be noticed if you picked it. With another flutter of movement from within, the flower fell silent.

And waited.


	2. Welcome to Neji's Life

**A/N- Sorry about the lack of author's notes in the previous chapter. I was about to get kicked off the computer, and I really wanted to get a story up, so I just kinda submitted and ran. XD Sorry about taking so long to update, too. My Microsoft Word isn't cooperating with me, and it's driving me insane. So, yeah. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- I don't own anything but the storyline, people, and the idea of faeries isn't very original, so, yeah... I don't know. I confused myself now.**

**Chapter One**

Neji sighed and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, quickening his pace against the crowd of people. The crowd parted before him with little snickers and worried looks. Somebody bumped into his shoulder and immediately started stammering and blubbering excuses, but at his vicious look she was immediately silent. He pushed past quickly, just wanting to be out of the crowd of cruel people and their mindless cruelty.

He hated them all.

He didn't used to be this way. He used to be happy. It seemed so long ago, though… Neji realized with sadness that he almost couldn't remember his father's face anymore, that it was just a blurry smudge. He had died almost ten years ago of an illness, leaving his older brother to fill in the empty slot of 'father'.

It wasn't that his uncle/ father figure was mean to him. In fact, Hiashi almost seemed to go out of his way to try to fill in his brother's place as best as possible; going to Neji's conferences, allowing Neji to go wherever he wanted with barely any notice… to any other kid it would have been a perfect life.

But Hiashi had once had a kid, too- Neji's younger cousin, Hinata. She, too, was only a little colorful blur whenever he tried to picture her- he knew she was smiling, but everything else was too blurry to make out. They never talked about her- she had disappeared one day while she was just out playing. They never found her, never knew what happened to her. Was she still alive? Did somebody find her? Was she okay? Did she even know that she still had a father?

Because of that, Hiashi almost never looked at Neji. Every time he did, he would flinch painfully. When Neji asked why, Hiashi only said (while looking down at the floor) that Neji looked too much like Hinata. The same nose, same eyes, same smile… everything. When Hiashi ever did actually look directly at him, there was a haunted and guilty look in his eyes.

The eyes.

Neji _hated _his eyes. The pupil-less eyes that didn't show any emotion at all. They were what started his problems at school. The kids would come up and tease him. "Are you blind or something? How many fingers am I holding up, you stupid blind person?" they'd laugh. At first Neji had ignored them, telling himself that it didn't matter what they said, he could see.

_I will not be ashamed of my eyes._ He had told himself fiercely. _They're the main feature of my family! I am different, not weird. I do not feel ashamed of my appearance!_

But they hadn't stopped.

And Neji, under the pressure of not being the same as everyone else, reacted by lashing out violently, both verbally and physically.

It had only taken one hit, just one landed punch on the guy's nose. Everyone else had seen with wide eyes, had taken note, and had decided at once that he was not to be spoken to. They had been scared of him, and they still were. They avoided him at all costs.

That was just fine with Neji.

Neji stepped through the door of his house, closing it with a bang. "I'm home." He called out with no enthusiasm at all. He threw his backpack on the couch that sat in front of the TV.

The house was small and casual. In the living room there was only a TV, a couch, and a fireplace that never was lit. Then there was the kitchen/ dining room, strewn with papers and wrappers off of TV dinners that Hiashi ate by himself because Neji preferred to skip dinner. Upstairs there were two bedrooms, Neji's on the right and Hiashi's on the left, and a bathroom.

That was it. Small enough for only two people to live reasonably comfortably.

Neji walked up the stairs as quietly as possible, trying to get to his room without attracting unwanted attention. He kept his eyes trained on the figure of Hiashi, bent over his desk writing something down, the back of his head to the door, and inched across the open doorway towards his room.

"How was your day?" his uncle asked, and Neji froze mid-step.

"How did you know I was there? You never turned around, and I didn't make any noise!" Neji demanded in confusion. Hiashi slightly flinched at his voice, but didn't look up.

"You announced you were home, and you always go immediately to your room. Now, how was your day?" He impatiently answered, and Neji felt his face heating up at his stupidity.

"Fine." He quickly turned his head away and continued walking the rest of the way into his room, slamming the door without another word.

He lay down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. The sunlight came through the dark clouds in patches and landed on his walls and ceiling, and the uneven rhythm made Neji realize how long and tiring the whole week had been. Before he knew it, his eyes closed and he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

He didn't know it, but out in the meadow, another pair of eyes flickered in another dreamless sleep.

**Please read and review!**


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